Social and Cognitive Sciences Graduate Group 

The graduate program in Social and Cognitive Sciences offers students individualized training and the opportunity to help build a unique, interdisciplinary research community. Graduate study is currently organized as five tracks: anthropology, cognitive science, economics, political science, and psychology. In addition, there are individual faculty members with interests in public policy and sociology. There are future plans for additional areas, but applications are only considered in areas of current faculty research. Graduate study at UC Merced will involve working closely with one or more professors, so prospective applicants should carefully consult the faculty list for current research topics.

• Anthropology. This track explores contemporary and historical cultures and societies by studying the practices and processes that entwine the individual in social structures, social relations, and power dynamics. Areas of focus include health and nutritional status, migration, demography, identity, culture and citizenship, and globalization, with attention to the Americas.  Faculty:  DeLugan, Hull, Rebhun.
• Cognitive science. This track provides interdisciplinary training in computational modeling, high-level cognition, including reasoning, categorization and decision-making, psycholinguistics, cognitive linguistics, visual perception, cognitive engineering, artificial intelligence, computer vision, philosophy of mind, and cognitive neuroscience.  Faculty:  Dunham, Heit, Kallmann, Kello, Maglio, Matlock, Newsam, Noelle, Spivey, Yoshimi.
• Economics. This track provides training in such applied microeconomic fields as labor economics, public economics, law and economics, industrial organization and political economy.  Faculty:  Kantor, Neumann, Whalley, Winder.
• Political Science. This track provides training in quantitative approaches to American Political Behavior and Institutions.  Faculty: Hansford, Monroe, Nicholson.
• Psychological Sciences. This track provides training in developmental psychology, health psychology and quantitative psychology. Areas of particular strength include experimental design, meta-analysis, health in children, adolescents and young adults, development of social stereotypes and prejudices, and language and cognitive development.  Faculty: Chouinard, Dunham, Shadish, Song, Vevea, Wallander.